About

Writer, broadcaster and filmmaker, Simon Sheridan has long held an active interest in the kinkier aspects of British pop culture (the sixties and seventies variety in particular). His encyclopaedic knowledge runs the gamut of home-grown X-rated cinema right through to cheerful childish nostalgia and colourful pop music – from tragic British porn queen Mary Millington and cult filmmaker Stanley Long, George & Mildred and Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy right through to classic kids’ shows like Jamie and the Magic Torch and The Moomins and the million-selling careers of ABBA and Kylie Minogue.

Simon has written several critically acclaimed books including Come Play with Me – The Life and Films of Mary Millington (published 1999), The A-Z of Classic Children’s Television (two editions; 2004 and 2007), X-Rated – Adventures of an Exploitation Filmmaker (with Stanley Long, 2008), The Complete Kylie (three editions; 2008, 2009 and 2012), The Complete ABBA (two editions; 2009 and 2012) and most famously of all Keeping the British End Up– Four Decades of Saucy Cinema (the expanded fourth edition of which was published in 2011). For the past two decades Simon has also been a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines both in the UK and US, as well as British radio stations. He is a regular guest on BBC Radio.

On British television he has appeared in a variety of documentaries for the BBC, Sky One, Channel 4, Granada and Five including The Making of ‘Carry On Columbus’ (1992), Sex & Fame: The Mary Millington Story (1996), Mike Baldwin & Me (2001), X-Rated: The Films That Shocked Britain (2004), Sex TV – Saucy British Cinema (Canada 2004), The Cartoon People (2004) and 100 Greatest Cartoons (2005), How Nudity Conquered the World (2006), When The Stranglers Met Roland Rat (2007), Rude Britannia (2010), Celebrity Naked Ambition (2011), The Greatest Kids’ TV Shows (2013), 1980s: The Best of Bad TV (2015), 1990s: The Best of Bad TV (2015) and The Best of Bad TV (2016 series).

Simon wrote, directed and produced his debut film, Respectable – The Mary Millington Story, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. The movie was released to great critical acclaim in London’s West End in April 2016, and screened on Netflix in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for three years. His second feature-length documentary, Everything – The Real Thing Story, premiered at London’s Regent Street Cinema in October 2019 and goes on UK release in January 2020.